A Grand Experiment
by pimpmastervoldie
Summary: In a discussion on spell construction, Hermione asks Dumbledore if there is a spell to peek into the future. Dumbledore informs Hermione that there isn't one, but there is one to peek into an alternate universe. Multiple parings.
1. Prologue

**A Grand Experiment**

**Summary: **In a discussion on spell construction, Hermione asks Dumbledore if there is a spell to peek into the future. Dumbledore informs Hermione that there isn't one, but there is one to peek into an alternate universe, which is only visible to the caster. Well, that won't do. She'll just have to fix that.

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Prologue**

**000**

It was on one of those many hours spent alone in the library during her sixth year that Hermione discovered a peculiar book. Although having been in Hogwarts for six years would prepare her for almost anything, this was the first book Hermione came across that didn't have a name, not even a publishing crest on the cover, in fact it was barren of anything that might give a clue as to what was inside. It was a small book that had a leathery cover that looked to be sewed together in some parts with thick black string. It had been pushed back behind other books, almost like someone was trying to hide it. Hermione couldn't help herself, she had to read it.

Spell construction was a bit more difficult than Hermione would have thought. She was able to perform spells and understand how to do them, but the idea behind the spells and how they came about never was fully understood. This didn't make any sense, because in Hogwarts, students didn't just read about potions they learned to make them, not only that but they also learned to cultivate the ingredients needed for them (in Herbology class). So, why couldn't students learn how to make spells? Why wasn't this being taught at Hogwarts? Aside from the basics that are thrown around, Hermione never saw a solid foundation on spell theories and was hoping that the final years at Hogwarts would finally touch upon the subject that left her curious. Well into her sixth year, Hermione still didn't see any class on spell construction theories, not even a short lecture, nothing.

Hermione wanted to check out the book after having read the first few chapters, deciding that she needed more time to study the theories within the book. That was when she found that it contained no library card and no evidence of there ever being one. It had crossed her mind when she first found the book that it didn't belong there, now the same thought occurred again. She couldn't help thinking that it probably came from the restricted section, and some curious student had shoved it behind the books in an attempt to hide it. She was torn between wanting to gain more knowledge on a subject that truly fascinated her and handing the book over to the strict librarian who would set things right and put the book back in its rightful place. Hermione decided that knowledge was power and that she liked having power. And so the book ended up shoved into her book bag along with her other books.

After spending more than a week studying the book's contents, as well as writing her own analysis on the theories of spell construction, Hermione still had questions that the book did not answer. Hermione had approached every one of her professors hoping to question one of them about spell construction; few had anything new to add to what she had been able to gather from the book. After another failed attempt at getting Harry interested in the discussion, Harry suggested Dumbledore in hopes that it would get Hermione to stop obsessing over the subject. He wasn't counting on her making an appointment with the headmaster the very next day.

The headmaster explained to Hermione that spell construction was once offered as a class course in the 6th and 7th year at Hogwarts. However, after wands became more refined with the passing years and spells were made simpler to cast the interest for understanding the craft of the spells died down. He explained it was similar to the muggle calculator, muggle children feel discouraged to learn mathematics because they feel it is useless since a calculator or a computer can do the work. They still learn it, but they don't do it with much heart. Dumbledore had pulled out a book from within his desk and offered it to Hermione. It was a book with the details of the study of spell construction; it mentioned wizards and witches who had contributed to refining this art, as well as mentions of studies.

Once the meeting was over Hermione found she was smiling with glee as she made her way back up to the Gryffindor tower. She had a date set to visit Dumbledore again next week to further discuss her new favorite topic she also had a new book to indulge in until the next meeting.

**0**

Hermione felt her cheeks warm up as the blood rushed to her face. Harry and Ron had the nerve to confront her and point out that she had spent too much time reading those books. Harry had mentioned something that still made her furious at the implications; he said she was obsessing, that she was going mad. If she had her wand ready instead of two ancient books in her arms, Hermione would have hexed them. She shook her head to clear the encounter from her mind. She still had an appointment with the headmaster to keep and she would not be late for that, Potter and Weasely would have to wait until later to be hexed.

"Come in" 

It occurred to Hermione that she had been standing outside the headmasters door for some time now, fuming at her two friends. She felt her face flush again, only now it was with embarrassment. Hermione clutched the book that the headmaster had given her closer to her chest and tentatively opened the door to the office. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that he was just now stepping out of the fireplace, she hoped that he wouldn't think that she was eavesdropping after she had stood outside his door for so long.

"Sir." Hermione took the offered seat and got comfortable while she waited for Dumbledore to finish settling into his own seat. She remembered to remove the notes that she had taken on the various theories and neatly placed them on the desk.

"Miss. Granger, have you discovered what you have been seeking?"

Hermione knew her face had betrayed her, because she could see Dumbledore's eyes twinkle with amusement the moment he had finished asking her that question. She tried to control the smile that had found its way onto her face. "Yes, sir. Most of it, anyway. But."

"But?"

"I was curious," Hermione pulled out one of her notes and handed it to Dumbledore. "Are there restrictions to a particular spell creation, or is it just something that the ministry deems dark and forbids it?"

Dumbledore nodded his head, "both." He scanned the paper before speaking again. "You see, there are things that we cannot do, even as wizards. There are restriction set, and by this I mean natural restrictions that have no way around it. Then there are spells that are deemed dangerous or dark and are forbidden, meaning that there are no natural restrictions that prevent them from being created or cast or there are few restrictions. Take the killing curse for example." Dumbledore handed the page back to Hermione and continued. "It has no restriction, you'd think that something as serious as taking another human life would be something restricted, but it is not. It is something that can be cast with only a little restriction, it can cause the human soul to split, but this is true for any act of murder, so murder has restrictions the spell itself is not. Naturally, the killing curse is forbidden."

Hermione wondered what other natural wizarding laws existed that governed magic. She knew that the ministry put labels on what was ok and what wasn't, but she never actually gave natural laws much thought. It occurred to her that this was something that she might take interest in studying after Hogwarts of course her uncertainty about the future made her wonder what exactly she was going to do after Hogwarts. "Sir, is there any spell that can look into the future?" She was already expecting the answer to be no, but it was worth a shot.

Dumbledore chuckled, "no, Miss Granger, there is no such spell." He looked pensive for a moment before going over to a bookshelf near Fawkes, who was fast asleep. Dumbledore came back with another book, this one was older and smaller with an old stained cloth around it. "Here it is." He flipped through the pages carefully. "Ah." He placed the book on the table and used his good hand to scratch his bearded chin. "There is a spell that allows one to look into an alternate universe, an alternate reality if you prefer."

Hermione's eyes widen. "You mean, there is more than one?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Take for example the book you found at the library." He gave a knowing smile when Hermione looked surprised that he had found out, she hadn't told him about that book. "You had contemplated on whether to give it to the librarian or take it with you. Correct?"

Hermione nodded.

"The you who chose to take it and the you who chose to give it to the librarian both exist, you will never truly know what happened to your other existence, but there are spells that allow you to glance into that world."

"How does it work?" Hermione found that she was sitting at the edge of her seat now. She had never dreamed that something like that was even possible, if anything she figured that this was one of the naturally restricted spells, impossible to cast.

Dumbledore gave another good natured smile before launching into an explanation of the spells workings and how it could be cast. To Hermione's disappointment, the spell only worked on the caster, meaning that only the caster could see it and it could only focus on the caster's alternate version. Hermione asked if there was a way to alter the spell to make it display to a group of people. Dumbledore flipped through the book once more before answering that it was possible. Naturally, he had said, it takes a bit of math to figure out all of the numbers. Of course, this was no problem for Hermione, she was determined to crack the code and make her first alteration to a spell. If anyone could do it, she could.

**TBC**

FYI, the explanation Dumbledore gives Hermione "the you who took the book and the you who gave it to the librarian both exist" is inspired by the speech Homunculus gives to Eike about seeing a glimpse of the Eike who drank the tea instead of the coffee, in the game Shadow of Destiny AKA Shadow of Memories. This is just in case you've played the game and found it similar, because it is based on it.

** A Glimpse of the Next Chapter: **"Hogwarts welcomes you to its first weekly movie night, also known as alternate universe night. This event is proudly sponsored by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. And now your hostess Heeermione Granger!" Hermione walked on stage wearing a pink sequence dress and matching pumps. "Thank you, thank you." She twirled around and laughed as the audience applauded her. "Hermione." They were chanting her name now. "Hermione." She continued to twirl. "Bloody He—Hermione! Wake up!"


	2. Harry

**A Grand Experiment**

**Important A/N, Please Read: **There will be some crossovers in this fic, nothing that you need to know about the other fandom to enjoy this fic. However, I will post a brief on what the chapter will contain in this section under CHAPTER SUMMARY. It will include if there is a crossover (or a reference to another fandom) as well as what the pairings, if any, will be in that alternate universe. Anyway, trying to make it humorous, but there will be some bits that are going to be sad, just a warning.

**Chapter Summary**: This chapter focuses on Harry. First AU to be explored will be based on Rule of Rose. No parings really just kids being kids (in a very twisted way). If you have played the game, this AU will only be based on the world and some of the story, but not all of it. Second AU will have no crossovers and no parings, mentions of Sailor Moon.

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter One**

**000**

"Hogwarts welcomes you to its first weekly movie night, also known as alternate universe night. This event is proudly sponsored by Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. And now your hostess Heeermione Granger!" Hermione walked on stage wearing a pink sequence dress and matching pumps. "Thank you, thank you." She twirled around and laughed as the audience applauded her. "Hermione." They were chanting her name now. "Hermione." She continued to twirl. "Bloody He—Hermione! Wake up!" Ron stood over the library desk where Hermione managed to nod off. He shook his head. "You really need to get some sleep."

"In a bed." Harry added, he was sitting next to her. "You remember what those are, don't you?"

Hermione groaned. Ever since she had told them what exactly she had been up to the boys kept checking up on her. It was sweet, but very annoying at times. "Of course I know what a bed is. Now," she looked down at her notes and smiled. "I'm all finished." She gathered her things.

"Finished, as in we can start this possibly…"

"Tomorrow." Hermione cut Ron off. "Yes, tomorrow will be the first day of the 'alternate universe night' and we will all be able to get a look at a different life." Hermione smiled, pleased with herself.

Harry and Ron helped Hermione take her books up to the Gryffindor tower. As they waited for the moving stairs they began to question Hermione how it would work. Hermione explained to them that an object would serve as the connector allowing them to surf through alternate universes much like a remote control. The alternate universe or reality would play on a giant screen that would be projected over the doors to the Great Hall. "Like a movie theater." She had said. Harry had to explain to Ron what a movie theater was, with promises that over the break they would go out to see a movie, after Ron took a real interest in the idea of a muggle moving picture.

The following day couldn't have gone any slower, as the older students (who were the only ones going to attend the show) waited for the night time to come. Finally, once dinner had been served, and the last of the younger students exited the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood to greet the students and welcome them to the first weekly alternate universe night.

"Miss Granger, if you would." Dumbledore motioned for Hermione to come stand next to him. "As I've informed the students earlier today during breakfast we would all be taking part of a grand experiment. Miss Granger will be conducting this experiment herself and will inform you what is in store." With that Dumbledore made his way back to his seat, smiling contentedly.

Hermione turned towards the crowd, glad that it was nothing like her dream. "As you remember we voted this morning on who we would like to see this week and Harry Potter was the most popular name," she looked towards Harry who just shook his head. "Anyway, instead of making any of you wait any longer," she stared pointedly at the eager Harry and Ron as she said this. "I will just show you. Please look towards the screen over the doors and enjoy." Hermione pulled out a remote she had enchanted and flipped through a few fuzzy screens before she found a blacked out one, the words connected flashed briefly. Yes, Hermione admitted to herself, sometimes magic and muggle technology turned out wonderful. When done right, she added as an afterthought thinking about Mr. Weasely.

**0**

The screen was dark and only a dim light could be seen in the background. Slowly, the screen brightened to reveal a makeshift throne on top of platforms, which had probably once been desks, stacked onto each other with dirty white sheets covering them. There were red roses and candles around and on the tables all laid out in a simple but elegant pattern, inviting but at the same time frightening. It looked like something that came out of a child's imagination. There was a lone teddy bear sitting on one of the chairs on top of the structure of desks, there was no one to be seen in the room. It wasn't long before a group of children started to file in, amongst them was Ron and Neville. When the final kid arrived, a boy in his early teens, the group before him curtsied or bowed in respect and he climbed to the very top. Harry Potter had taken his seat next to the brown teddy bear. He was the prince.

"Here she comes."

"I can't stand girls like her!"

"Our prince will know how to deal with her."

The children whispered, giggling wickedly as a bushy brown haired girl tentatively walked into the room. Her face was obscured by shadows that flickered in the candle light, but one could see that she was around the same age as the other kids in the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Aristocrat Club. Thank you all for gathering here today." Meg, a smart looking girl, read from her notebook. "And now a word from our prince."

"Your gift this month was a disgrace." Harry began; he leaned back into his chair as he spoke. "You have officially been demoted from irritating to miserable."

"She is a stupid one, my prince. Allow us to properly punish her for you." Diana, a pretty red haired girl, said. She curtsied before him, raising her skirt higher than it should have gone. A knowing smile graced her red lips when she noticed that Harry's eyes wondered to her legs, his head tilting slightly to see more.

"Of course, Duchess Diana." He looked towards the brown haired girl and smiled. "What is your biggest fear? A phobia, perhaps?"

"Bugs, bugs, she hates bugs." Amanda said, she was a chubby blonde girl in a pink floral dress who squealed much like a pig when she got excited. She had a strong resemblance to Dudely, if she hadn't been wearing that pink dress and lipstick (although smeared) she could have easily passed for Harry's cousin.

Harry clapped and laughed as the others around him began to chant along with Amanda, he had a sinister grin on his face. "It's the onion bag for you, dear Hermione." He pointed towards the two boys on the lower level. "Take her away." He continued to laugh as the boys, Ron and Neville, grabbed a hold of Hermione's arms and dragged her away.

Hermione's screams could be heard, drowning out the sound of the chanting, as the screen went black.

**0**

The Great Hall was silent as the student waited for the screen to show more. After a long time with the screen blacked out the silence in the hall ceased and immediately every student was talking, shocked at the scene that had unfolded before them.

Hermione took this as her cue to start talking. "As you can see, we are still in trial phase, so the 'connection' cannot last long. However, we may be able to revisit this universe later, but for now we will move on." She pulled the remote from the depths of her robe pocket and began to flip through the channels again, looking for a connection. It took awhile but Hermione finally came across a working connection. The screen came into focus on a sleeping Harry. Hermione sighed, "well, as we wait is there any questions?"

Harry raised his hand high along with quite a few of the boys in the hall.

Hermione ignored them and continued to look around. "Anyone?"

Ron also raised his hand.

Hermione sighed again, shaking her head in disdain. "Anyone who is NOT going to ask if the Diana girl exists in our reality." Everyone who had their hands up lowered them in disappointment. "Let's focus on the screen, please." She made her way back to her seat next to Harry and Ron, an annoyed look on her face. "You owe me an explanation for what you did there, Harry James!" Hermione whispered angrily.

"It wasn't me, I mean it was, but it wasn't me." Harry tried to defend himself, his hands up trying to shield away Hermione's attempt to slap his arm.

Hermione gave up trying to physically abuse her friend and glared at Harry before turning towards the screen, ignoring Ron's laughter.

**0**

"Harry."

Somewhere in the dark folds of his mind, Harry, could hear a voice calling his name. He tried desperately to ignore the voice, but it only grew louder and suddenly he was wrapped in a cold rush of wind as he was finally jerked away from his slumber. He took a moment to sigh sadly at the lost of comfort that he was forced to endure every morning since he was old enough to go to school. He longed for his toddler years when he was allowed to sleep until his little body felt like getting up; those were the good old days. He stretched out his arm and began to search for his glasses on his bedside table. Once they were placed on his face Harry glared up at the perpetrator that committed the heinous crime of waking a teenage boy up on a weekend at 8:00AM exactly. He gave a frustrated sigh before realizing that this was not the best approach and resorted to whining. "Muuum!"

Lily smiled at her son's childish behavior. "Good morning sweetie, you're up aren't you? Good, I need to run down to the school real quick and need you to babysit your little sister." Completely ignoring the fact that she was the one who had awakened her sleeping son.

"Mum, you have three kids. Okay? Can't you ask your other daughter to babysit the little spawn of Satan that you call my sister?" Harry had sat up at this point.

Lily got in scolding mode by placing her hands on her hips. "Harry James Potter, your _lovely_ sister Posey is not the spawn of Satan, you will not refer to her as such."

"She's Snape's daughter, close enough."

"Enough. Get up; you have exactly 10 minutes to get downstairs before I leave. I'm warning you, no funny business. I know you and Sirius like to pester the neighborhood whenever you're on break, but you are turning 16 in a few days and you need to act more like it." Lily gave a stern glare at her son before walking over towards the door.

"Yes, ma'am." He moaned unenthusiastically before getting up.

**0**

At this point, Harry from the original universe was feeling a bit sick. At first he was delighted to find that in some universe his mother had survived (he didn't know if that meant that Voldemort had ever fallen, but he was delighted nonetheless), but the thought that Snape was married to his mother, and worse yet he had a Snape spawn as a half sister. He could gag. He took a moment to glance up at the staff table and eyed Snape, who much to Harry's horror looked slightly _pleased_ about something. Harry just decided that this was probably because he knew that Harry was slowly dying right now and was very pleased to be the cause of it. Damn him. Harry felt Hermione's elbow hit his side and the hissed words to 'pay attention' before he turned back towards the screen.

**0**

Harry walked down the stairs that lead to a small cozy kitchen that was painted in soft yellows with simple furnishings. He sat down on his regular chair on the oval table and glanced up at his mother. "Here I am. All ready to die ever so slowly at the hands of Posey. At my funeral please tell her to stay away."

Lily paid Harry no mind, chalking it up to normal adolescent behavior. "Alright, I should be back around none. Sirius will be coming by for lunch as always, I don't think Remus is going to make it today though." The previous night had been a full moon and Remus was usually not well enough to leave his house for a few days. "This will give you enough to time to go with Sirius to see your dad." Lily gave a weak smile as she said this.

Harry nodded. "Okay. Have a good day. Tell me later how the conference goes."

"Will do, sweetheart. You know the only reason I teach at Hogwarts is because I can't stand being away from my kids for long." She leaned over and gave Harry's forehead a kiss, revealing the lightning bolt shaped scar. "Take care yourself, and don't be mean to Posey." Lily made her way to the living room where a fireplace was located and with the flash of green flames she was gone.

Harry sighed. "It's going to be a long day."

The screen went black, but instead of ending it connected again and continued. It was evident that time had passed, most likely uneventful by the looks of things, as Harry was now helping his mother clear the table. Sirius was sitting next to the chair Harry usually sat at looking content while Severus Snape was putting away the clean dishes that Lily cleaned. On the table were two girls with auburn hair, the oldest had bright green eyes while the youngest had dark onyx colored eyes. The oldest girl, who looked like Lily's doppelganger was flipping through a quidditch book, a bored look on her face.

"Mum, I want a new broom. I can't play quidditch with that old thing." She said her voice a bit raspy.

"Honestly, Rose." Lily sighed, taking a moment to thank Harry as he handed her the last dish from the table. "You play fine with the broom you currently have."

"Actually." Harry began, ignoring the look his mother gave him. "It's not the broom, Rose, it's you. You just suck. This is why Ravenclaw never wins, their keeper is a dud." He ducked out of the way as Rose sent the quidditch magazine flying in his direction.

Sirius chuckled. "He was just joking, Rose." He tried to sooth the seething 14 year old. "Anyway, I think it's time we go." He looked towards Harry.

Harry nodded. "Alright I'm already done anyway. Let's go."

Sirius stood. "Thanks Lily and Snape for the lovely lunch." He winked towards the two adults. "It was lovely, only wish Moony was here for it."

"I'll send him a plate later, if you don't mind stopping by again." Lily said as she dried her hands.

Snape cleared his throat. "Do try to sober up before stopping by later. I know how you can get after seeing Potter."

"I'll try not to scare your kids, although I'm sure you are doing that just fine on your own." He chuckled lightly at the dirty look Snape threw his way.

"Very amusing." Snape went back to putting away the dishes.

Harry waved goodbye to everyone and made his way towards the fireplace with Sirius. They flooed to a dusty old house that looked uninhabited. With a few looks around to make sure everything was in order, both Harry and Sirius made their way outside and towards a graveyard. They stopped just next to a tomb that read James Potter, with the family crest engraved at the top.

Harry took a seat and placed his arm over the tombstone. "Hey dad."

Sirius was propped against a tree not far from Harry; his head was down, his shoulders shaking.

The screen went black again before coming back on; a few hours had passed again. It was now night time and Harry and Sirius were somewhere in London.

"Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon." Harry and Sirius sang together as they sauntered down a street, heading towards Grimmauld Place. They decided that they were too drunk to return to Harry's house for the food they promised to bring for Remus, so they decided that they were going to cook something for him at the Black's home before going to Lupin's house. It was brilliant, Remus would be pleased at Sirius and Harry's cooking skills.

"I always wanted to be Tuxedo Mask." Sirius slurred.

"I always wanted to be Sailor Moon." Harry said.

"Why?" Sirius laughed.

"Well, because I wanted to be a pretty princess since I was little."

"Oh my Merlin! Me, too." Sirius laughed. "I think that's when my mum first stopped talking to me. She caught me wearing her jewelry and putting lipstick on Regulus right before going to Hogwarts. She said I was a weird one." He looked almost proud. "Coming from her, that was a compliment."

Harry shook his head, a smile still present on his face. "I bet it was."

Their talking began to fade as they walked into the townhouse and closed the door behind them. The screen went blank again, this time it did not reconnect.

**000**

**TBC**

**A glimpse at the next chapter:** Luna Lovegood was always a strange thing, but certainly never this strange. The students turned to face Luna. "Who said this was an alternate universe." Luna said, her eyes never leaving the blank screen. Several Ravenclaws scooted away from Luna, trying to put some distance between them.

BTW: No idea what the pairings will be, didn't really want to write about that... maybe Harry/Luna, not sure.


	3. Luna

**A Grand Experiment**

**Chapter Summary: **Focus is on Luna. Neville/Luna

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 2**

**000**

It wasn't until Ron pointed it out that Harry realized he had been smiling the whole way back up to the dorms after the showing. Harry had liked the idea that somewhere out there he was together with his family, even if it was just his mom. He always wanted siblings and was glad he got to at least look into a world where he had that. He would have to find a way to thank Hermione later.

An uneventful week passed for the students of Hogwarts and soon the students found themselves gathering at the Great Hall awaiting Hermione to present the next alternate universe. Although the first universe the students viewed of Harry was fascinating, they found that it was a bit dull (not exactly the action packed adventure they wished for) and decided to vote on someone who would present some type of interesting entertainment. This was how Hermione pulled Luna Lovegood's name out of the small box from the front of the room.

"Tonight we will focus on Luna Lovegood. Let's begin." Hermione flipped through the channels until she got a connection. The screen light up to reveal a forest with Luna walking aimlessly around.

**0**

Luna was wearing her white dress again. She usually wore it on Saturdays when she went out to look for something to paint. Usually an insect or a plant, sometimes she came across the unexpected that would demand her best brushes. Today was just one of those days that she knew she would be painting something unique, something beautiful, and so she had brought along her equipment. Everything was wrapped carefully and stored in her green canvas bag that she had made herself. She had her canvas in one hand with the corner touching the floor every once in a while.

Luna eventually stumbled upon a very curious scene. In a moss covered clearing there was a body in the center. On closer inspection Luna discovered that this man was recently killed, a gash on his neck indicating that he had been bitten and either bled to death or the bite had been poisonous.

Luna set up her canvas, leaning it against a boulder and began to paint. She focused mostly on the man's neck, where the bits of skin that were curled up were starting to turn a darkish green, indicating that there was poison. She wanted to get a closer look of the man's features, wanting to register that pained look that still graced his postmortem face. She wanted to capture that moment forever, even after the man's body had decomposed.

She laid her brushes aside and took out a small sketch pad along with some charcoal pencils. She walked gingerly over to the corpse and propped herself on his chest. She peered intently at the dead man's face.

"You know, for a dead person you are really quite handsome." She whispered, brushing aside a strand of the blond hair from the man's pointed face. Her finger traced the outline of his face before she began to draw.

**0**

Luna Lovegood was always a strange thing, but certainly never this strange. The students turned to face Luna. "Who said this was an alternate universe." Luna said, her eyes never leaving the screen. Several Ravenclaws scooted away from Luna, trying to put some distance between them.

Harry who was paying close attention to the screen noticed at once who the dead guy was. "Mr. Malfoy!" He blurted. He looked towards Draco Malfoy who was visibly pale.

"Someone, please turn that off." Draco said, his voice cracking slightly.

"There's no need, it looks like the connection failed." Hermione said, now standing with the remote clutched in her hand. "Moving on." She flipped through the channels again and came upon a solid connection. The screen displayed Luna Lovegood standing in a garden, once again walking around aimlessly. _'Must be her thing.'_ Hermione thought, finding it weird that the girl spent so much time wondering around outside.

**0**

Luna was wearing her vintage floral pattern dress that she always wore out to the garden. She found herself at the base of a weeping willow, a blanket and picnic basket already set out. She smiled slightly at the plants before depositing soft pink rose petals over the sun bleached blanket. Luna took a seat next to the basket and began to empty out its contents. There was a set of two for everything, indicating that she would not be having lunch alone.

Luna looked up when she noticed someone walking towards her. She smiled when Neville walked into the garden wearing his usual robes (black with red trimmings). He smiled shyly as he took his seat across from Luna.

"You look well." He commented, running a hand down her exposed arm.

"You, too." She said simply. She allowed her eyes to close at the contact. "Would you like some tea?" She asked, her eyes remained closed.

"I'd love some." Neville replied. Pouring them a cup of the tea. He noted with a smile that the tea was jasmine, his favorite.

Luna took the job of sweetening the tea with a liquid sweetener. They exchanged smiles as they sipped their tea.

"I may have poisoned our tea." Luna said once they were done.

They sat in silence marveling at the splendor and elegance of the nature that surrounded them. Their fingers intertwining as the soft pink rose petals floated around them.

Neville smiled, looking up to the sun through the branches of the weeping willow. "It's beautiful." He says at last, his eyes watering.

"It is."

The screen fades to black.

**0**

Once again all eyes were on Luna Lovegood awaiting her comment. "Beautiful." She said, her voice as dreamy and airy as ever.

"I agree." Neville had added from his seat amongst the Gryffindors. Luna and Neville looked at each other and stared.

Movie night came to an end and the students returned to their dorms. As Neville laid to sleep he had sweet thoughts of poisoned kisses under a tree. "It's all so beautiful." He whispered as he finally drifted to sleep.

**TBC**

**000**

**a/n:** Nope, like Neville/Luna better than Luna/Harry so, I still don't know who Harry will end up with. Maybe he will get his grove thang with Voldemort or with his clone or maybe his broom or maybe even Draco (slash fan myself). You never know. Review and let me know what you would like to see in terms of parings, and if you have any suggestions for a universe. I would appreciate them. Thanks!

**Next Chapter: **Draco loved putting on that outfit, it made him feel good in a fuzzy and warm way.


	4. Draco

**A Grand Experiment**

**Chapter Summary: **Focus is on Draco. First AU has no real parings, second AU is Hermione/Draco as requested. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 3**

**000**

Hermione looked over the votes once again. Her eyes scanning the charmed parchment that held the name of the most voted on student this week. She felt conflicted on the choice of presenting the movie night with Draco Malfoy as the focus or messing with the charmed paper and picking another student. She had an almost Slytherin moment when she raised her wand and placed it against the parchment, her lips pressing firmly together as she contemplated her decision. She allowed herself to indulge in the thought of breaking another rule for the sake of research. She thought on the split of realities and wondered what the other Hermione might be doing now; the Hermione that returned the book.

"Hm." She rolled up the parchment and placed it back in the voting box. "Interesting." She allowed herself a small smile before walking out of the room.

**0**

Harry held his head up high as he walked through the doors to the Great Hall. Ron was at his side laughing hysterically, which soon was accompanied by the other students' laughter. He held his head up even higher and made his way towards the Gryffindor table, his purple zebra print robes fluttering around him, and the too big matching wizard hat flopping on his head.

Hermione had pointed it out during their shopping trip during the summer time, saying that Harry would never have the courage to wear that. She was trying to make a point about the colorful outfits Dumbledore always wore and that only a wizard…and Harry sort of tuned the rest out when he spotted this pretty blond lady who walked into the store, he drooled a bit. Hermione noticed this and pointed out that the pretty blond was actually Mrs. Malfoy. Bullocks. Him and his MILF obsession, when will he learn.

That was essentially how he ended up making a bet with Hermione and Ron that he would go to dinner one day wearing the purple robe.

"What's wrong? I think this is a rather stylish outfit." Harry said, taking his seat between Ron and Hermione's empty spot.

"I agree Mr. Potter." Dumbledore said as he walked past the Gryffindor table. His outfit, not much different from Harry's, was bright purple with sparkling stars.

Hermione was struggling with holding her own laughter. She cued the screen to start without out much delay. "Tonight's focus will be Draco Malfoy." and she quickly made her way down to the Gryffindor table.

Draco was not pleased with the announcement.

**0**

Draco huffed indignantly as he put on his feathery outfit, it wasn't the outfit that was making him upset, no, Draco loved putting on that outfit, it made him feel good in a fuzzy and warm way. It was the reason why he was putting it that made him upset. He was put on magical probation for a year due to his involvement in Harry Potter's (the Dark Lord of the Century) plan to conquer Tom Riddle's Order of the Chicken Wing. Draco flapped his wings and made odd sounds; he muttered on how in the world a pureblood like him ended up doing a job like this. As he flapped his wings and made a particularly loud squawk he spotted Harry Potter across the field.

The soccer players shuffled around the field almost zombie like, and Draco noticed that Hermione Granger fell asleep in mid field with Ron Weasley playing house next to her with imaginary dolls.

"Oh my God, Vanessa!" Ron shouted as Harry ran in front of him. "You stepped on her head!" He rushed to the invisible doll and tried to do C.P.R. sobbing uncontrollably as Severus Snape, dressed in a white lab coat, pulled him away.

Harry held the edges of his cheap Halloween cape and swished it around in what he thought was a menacing way. "Hello my minion, has your magic been taken away by the ministry of magic as well?"

Draco squawked and nodded his head.

Tom Riddle approached holding what looked like a bottle of medicine. "Come here, Potter, and allow me to help you calm down." He said cautiously.

" Never! And don't call me Potter, I am he-who-must-not-be-mentioned-sometimes!" He swished his cloak around some more. "And now it is one of those times when I would like not to be mentioned by name." He skipped around Draco. "Come my feathery minion and let us frolic about." He took a hold of one of Draco's feathery wings and proceeded to drag the bird around.

Tom Riddle sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair. "I really should start thinking of applying for another job." He started to walk back to the main building; a sign overhead read 'Hogwarts, Insane Asylum.'

Draco continued to flap his free wing around and squawking loudly as Harry dragged him towards the secret hiding place of their terrorist organization, conveniently located directly under the Dumbledore's window, where he was currently dangling out of.

"Alright there, Harry?" He greeted from his awkward position.

"Yes Headmaster, we managed to escape Tom Riddle's clutches once again." He waved his hand in the air as a form of a weird cult greeting, which Dumbledore returned with only one hand holding him up.

"Wonderful! Now, if you'll excuse me… I'm transmitting my love waves to Snape. HMMMMM." He proceeded to hum loudly. Severus Snape, who had poked his head out the window of Ron's room (where Ron was peacefully snoring in a drug induced sleep) shook his head at the sight of the old man dangling on the window sill. He muttered something like; 'I hope you fall old man.' But Dumbledore clearly heard; 'I love you, too.' "Oh Snape-y Poo!" He giggled loudly.

**0**

The screen faded into black once again signaling the end. Harry was probably the first one who burst out laughing followed by the rest of the Gryffindor table, the rest of the hall just sort of stared at the screen in shock.

"Oh my." Hermione tried to hide her smile behind her hand. She quickly made her way up to the front of the hall and flipped through the channels until she came upon a good connection. She kept her eyes averted, unable to look at the headmaster, fearing that she might start laughing herself.

**0**

It was a day like any other day in Hogwarts. The students shuffled about the halls going and coming from classes; some giggled and joked with their friends while others fretted over their grades or past due assignments. Draco Malfoy was one of the few students who walked silently towards class, not bothering to stop and carry on a conversation with his friends who trailed behind him. No, Draco Malfoy was focused on getting to class and doing what he had to do to get somewhere in life, because standing around the Hallway gossiping was not going to get him any closer to his goal.

"Did you hear?"

"Looks like the Granger girl ran into Weasley doing unspeakable things with one of her roommates."

"No? Oh my Merlin. She must be heartbroken."

"What's worse is that Potter is too busy sneaking around with the Weasley girl to notice that his friend is in dire need of a shoulder to cry on."

"I heard she had to be taken to the infirmary this morning, she was feeling sick. Poor thing probably couldn't stand to see her man in another girls arms."

Draco caught the whispers of the two Hufflepuff girls that passed by him, they leaned into each other and whispered frantically about the latest gossip. He smirked; it looked like the golden trio was falling apart. Feeling his wicked side awaken once more, Draco decided he was going to pay dear Hermione a visit in her time of need. He turned at the next corner and started to walk towards the infirmary, turning only to dismiss his friends who were already following him.

He was near the door when he ran into Potter, who was walking out. Just his luck.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Potter looked angry.

"I know you spend a lot of time here, but last I checked you didn't own the infirmary, and I'm sure I am allowed to come and go as I please." He stepped closer towards the door. "Now, step aside or I will hex you, Chosen One or not." He allowed his wand to slide into his palm effortlessly from the wand harness around his arm.

"You don't look hurt, but I can rearrange that for you if you need." Harry already had his wand drawn and pointed it loosely towards Draco.

"Why don't you just get out of my way and stop wasting my time."

"I have my eye on you." Harry meant that as an insult.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not into you that way." Draco gave one of his famous little smirks before pushing through the doors to the infirmary. He heard Potter mumble something behind his back, but he was already focused on the drawn curtains of one of the beds. He walked forward in long strides, looking over his shoulder to make sure the nurse and Potter were nowhere to be seen. He dashed quickly behind the curtain and walked towards the sleeping Hermione Granger.

Hermione's eyes fluttered open; she surveyed the area before turning to Draco. "Hi." She smiled.

"Hello." He sat down and took one of her hands into his. "Did you really come here because you were heartbroken after seeing the weasel in action?" Draco placed his free hand on his heart and made a face of mock despair.

"Of course not, I ended up here because I was up three days studying without much to eat or drink and my body finally noticed and collapsed." She closed her tired eyes and bit back a giggle as Draco traced circles on her palm causing a rush of sensation on her skin.

"You tell me: 'No, Draco I can't stay up too late because I have class.' And yet when it comes to books you always have time." He looked away, withdrawing his hands from Hermione's and placing them on his lap. "I'm offended."

Hermione laughed and swatted at his arm weakly. "Oh quit it!"

Draco turned around, the playfulness now gone. "I'm cutting class for you." He traced her jaw line with his knuckles. "I'm missing out on enhancing my knowledge, and you know how I feel about knowledge."

"Knowledge is power." They said in union.

"Exactly." Draco whispered, his thumb ghosting over Hermione's lips. "I'm doing that for you." He leaned closer and placed his forehead against Hermione's. "So, why can't you give up the books once in awhile for yourself? You know, to eat and drink and sleep and maybe see your boyfriend." He smiled softly and muttered under his breath, "and maybe sleep _with_ your boyfriend."

Through the hazy and warm feeling of being half asleep and in love, Hermione responded: "I'd like that." And they kissed.

Draco curled up against her and watched her drift to sleep. He did not feel like going to class, or enhance his knowledge, or even fight with Potter, all he wanted to do was lay there on that tiny hospital bed holding his Hermione close.

**0**

There weren't words to describe what Hermione was feeling. Disgust? Maybe. Weirded out? Possibly. She just struggled with the emotions that rushed through her and was unable to take the stand to give the closing statement; Dumbledore took over, and she was grateful. Looking at Ron's pale face and Harry's shocked expression, Hermione was almost regretting not changing the votes like she had originally thought. She risked a look towards the Slytherin side and spotted Draco Malfoy blushing, his eyes on her.

**TBC**

**000**

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, writers block on every story.

**Next Chapter: **What does this button do? Harry messes with the control.


	5. The Button

**A Grand Experiment**

**Chapter Summary: **Harry plays with the remote. No parings aside from obvious Hermione/Ron stuff.

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter 4**

**000**

Hermione didn't know what to make of the assembly last week. There were still people whispering about, debating if that was an alternate reality or was it just replaying what had happened earlier. Hermione _did _fall ill last month, and Ron _was _doing unspeakable things with one of her roommates, so people were just assuming that it wasn't an alternate reality, but instead it was something that really took place a month ago. She sighed. She was growing tired of the rumors, already.

"_So, when were you planning on telling me this?" Ron had cornered her on their way back to the dorms last Friday._

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You bloody well know what I'm talking about!"_

"_Oh, you mean snogging Malfoy and having passionate sex with him in broom closets? Is that what you were talking about?" Hermione rolled her eyes, and continued walking down the corridor towards the moving stairs._

_Ron gave a groan of frustration and took long strides to catch up to Harry who was way ahead of the two._

That had been the last time the two of them talked. Hermione wasn't really upset, she was bloody furious at this point.

"Who does that boy think he is! It's okay for him to snog some random girl in public, but if it is so much as mentioned that I might be involved with someone, even in another reality, he gets angry. The nerve of that boy!" Hermione hissed angrily at Harry who was sorting through the books on their desk. They were in the library, hiding behind the shelves in hopes that they could finish their assignments without interruption from the other students. The desk they occupied was making an odd creaking sound, like it was about to give way, whenever Hermione slammed a heavy book down. She was moving about in a flurry, picking books from the shelves and depositing them on the desk for Harry to look through.

"Mmmhmmm." Harry just did what all friends, who wished they didn't have to hear it, do: He nodded and muttered something that sounded like he was in between a 'yeah, girl' and a 'it's not like that' which put him the gray area of the fight.

Hermione continued her rant. Harry continued to play it safe with his words. That is until he just had enough. In that moment, when he stood up and reached over to Hermione and pulled her flush against his body, crushing their lips together in a desperate attempt to keep her quiet, he wondered if their reality had just split. He wondered if there was a Harry who was still muttering nonsensical replies with a Hermione who was still ranting about the boy she so obviously loved.

When Harry pulled away, his cheeks flushed, he couldn't help the smile that surfaced. "Now," he began almost breathlessly. "You can stop complaining, because I can't take another second of it." He let go of Hermione and stumbled back a few steps.

They stared at each other. Harry was still trying to even out his breathing, and Hermione was trying to make sense of things.

"Harry, why?" She asked cautiously.

"I just thought what would happen if I did. If our reality split, and if so, into how many different ones. I was curious." He took a seat on the edge of the desk. "and you were starting to get kind of loud."

"Oh." Hermione straightened out the front of her robes and smoothed out imaginary creases on her uniform. "Just, don't do that again." She took a seat next to him. "A simple 'be quiet' will be enough next time." She smiled up at Harry.

Harry smiled back. "Okay."

**0**

It happened quickly and Harry was still trying to figure out how. One minute he was walking down the hallway towards his next class, and the next he was on the floor with a red-in-the-face Ron staring down at him. Ron had opened his mouth and started to spew out insults and Hermione began to yell at Ron. Meanwhile, Harry was having a realization.

"Is this about the kiss?" Harry asked, dusting off his robes as he stood up from the floor. By now the group of students that had started to form around them had quickly become a sea of nosy students.

Ron and Hermione both stopped arguing to stare at Harry. Ron was ready to punch Harry again. Hermione was ready to punch Ron.

"Look, Ron, I like you. In fact, I almost love you, but you need to realize that I don't have_ those_ sorts of feelings for you. I'm not the kind of guy who is attracted to blokes. There's nothing wrong with that." Harry made a point to stare at the Slytherins who were at the front of the crowd, and nodded at Draco who went from smirking to rage in record time. "But, I'm not interested and I don't have those feeling for you, mate." Harry smiled and slowly stepped backwards and into the crowd and disappeared.

"But, I'm not..." Ron was staring at where Harry had stood with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I dunno, mate, the way you stare at him in the locker room."

Ron spun around to look at one of his fellow Quidditch teammates. "I do not!"

"Don't deny it, Ron. It's okay. Just be who you are." Hermione smiled mischievously and followed Harry into the crowd.

"But, I'm not gay!" Ron looked around at the dispersing crowd. "I'M NOT!"

**0**

That Friday night, as supper came to an end and the students were getting ready for a screening on their selected focus (Hermione), someone made a comment on the way Hermione and Draco would make a great couple. Ron did not take that comment well, nor the one about his crush on Harry Potter. Ron had decided, at that very moment, that verbally attacking Hermione in front of a crowd of students was the best solution.

"Ronald! I will not stand here and have you talk to me in that way!" Hermione stood from her chair, hair moving around wildly across her face, and took three quick steps towards Ron. "You are so—ARRH!" Hermione gave a shout of frustration and threw the remote into Harry's lap, slapped Ron, and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"You see, this is why I prefer my women with a little less flair." Seamus commented from somewhere on Harry's left.

"Funny, I never saw him with a girl before." Harry whispered to Ginny.

"Dean told me he's saving himself for Princess Leia, from Star…something. Star battle? I dunno." Ginny shrugged.

"Star Wars?" Harry asked.

"Yeah."

"That's sad." Harry shook his head.

"I heard that!" Seamus blushed, as a few muggleborns in the crowd began to laugh.

"Hehehe. Anyway. Harry, I think you should start this movie night up, since it doesn't look like Hermione will." Ginny motioned towards the remote.

"Right, since I am completely capable of doing this." Harry stood and slowly walked up to the staff table. "So, Professors, anyone care to take it from here?" Harry asked, lifting the remote and pushing his hand forward as if offering it.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and gave Harry a small smile. "Mr. Potter, this is a student conducted experiment, and since Miss Granger is not able to proceed with tonight's experimentation it is only right that her second in command takes over." Professor McGonagall informed Harry.

"Right." Harry sighed and turned around to face the hall.

The students had quieted down and awaited the signal that the movie night was going to begin. In other words, they were all waiting to see if Harry would mess up. Harry did catch this, and was betting on that the teachers, who were whispering amongst themselves behind him, were placing bets on whether he would mess up or not.

"Five galleons says that he will manage to break the damn thing." That was Professor Snape, Harry was sure.

"You are on." Harry wasn't surprised to find out that it was Professor McGonagall.

'Sometimes, I really wish I wasn't Harry.' Harry thought. "Ahem." Harry cleared his throat. "Alright everyone, I will click something here and we can get this show under way." Harry turned the remote around in his hand. He figured that it couldn't be harder than the remote for the telly, but since he wasn't allowed near it, he was unsure how to use it. "Ah! This button should do it." Harry pressed the DNP button that was a dark purple, his new favorite color. He figured that it probably stood for something along the lines of 'Dimensional Network Portal' and that it was probably what caused the initial link to open.

'More buttons.' Harry also figured that it was now ok to enter codes that would open dimensions for viewing. So, he smashed random buttons, hopping that it would yield something.

Everyone held their breaths as the screen made a loud click and turned a bright white color that almost blinded the students. Suddenly, the screen went completely blank.

"I think you broke it." Professor Snape commented from behind Harry, and he even caught the barely audible 'moron' that was thrown in there. "You owe me five galleons, McGonagall." Harry was happy that he could at least trust Dumbledore and Hagrid to not bet on his failure.

"You owe me." Hagrid whispered, loudly, to one of the staff behind Harry.

Dumbledore sighed, "I thought he'd at least take more than two seconds to break it." The sound of money being exchanged in the back was just too much for Harry to take.

However, before Harry had the chance to turn around and glare heatedly at the staff table and say some choice words that would undoubtedly land him in a month's worth of detention, the screen came back to life. It blinked 'D.N.P. block deactivated. Initiating connection to universe 009992109.'

Hermione chose this moment to walk back into the Great Hall. "You deactivated the Dimensional Network Portal block!"

"I knew that was what DNP stood for!"

"Not the time, Harry!" Hermione looked around panicked. "Not good."

"Does this skirt make my butt look big?" A voice was heard ringing around the hall. It wasn't clear if the voice had been from one of the friendly Hogwart's ghost, but they had been gone on a ghost cruise around the world and wouldn't be back for another month, so it was quickly ruled out.

"Why would you care if your behind looks big? It's not really important."

"Says the girl who was blessed with an awesome body and chooses to dress like a frat boy."

"Hey, whatever looks clean off the floor is good enough."

The disembody voices started to become louder towards the entrance doors and soon two bodies began to materialize, finally revealing who the voices belonged to.

**000**

**TBC…**

**A/N: **Dun, dun, dun. Thank you everyone who is still reading this. Anyway, 2 chapters left and this should end nicely.

**Next Chapter: **"…call me Frozen, or Delight, or Frozen Delight, or Delightfully Frozen, or Miss Delightfullness." Harry's mess-up gets worse.


End file.
